46 Size of Farms. 



the cheapness of land, and to the profits derived from 

 an employment, in which he unites skill to capital ; so, on 

 the other hand, when by competition, the rent of land in- 

 creases, and when, from various causes, many competitors 

 appear, he has then no inducement to continue in tbe occu- 

 pation of more land, than he can conveniently and profit- 

 ably manage. He diminishes therefore the extent of his 

 concerns, by giving up some of his farms to the proprietors, 

 or establishing branches of his own family on them, or sub- 

 letting some of them, if he be entitled to that privilege. 



2. In the vicinity of towns, and on all lands approaching 

 to garden culture, the occupier has so many minutiae to at- 

 tend to, that a large farm becomes unsuitable. In such si- 

 tuations, farms necessarily become smaller ; and indeed, as 

 the rent of land rapidly increases, a great extent of it would 

 prove a most hazardous speculation. 



Thus it appears, that the size of farms, must in a great 

 measure depend, upon the circumstances of a country. What 

 is a proper size in one district, is not so in another; and 

 what is a proper size at one time, is not so at another, 

 even in the same district. On the whole, however, that 

 size, whether small, or moderate, or large, is to be prefer- 

 red, for which there is, in any particular district, the great- 

 est demand at the time. This demand insures, from compe- 

 tition, an adequate rent; and while the proprietor thus ob- 

 tains the value of his land, the public are also benefited, the 

 greatest possible produce being procured from the soil, 

 owing to the superior industry and exertion required on the 

 part of the farmer ( I5S ). 



SECT. VIIL Tenure, whether in Property or on Lease. 



IN this Section it is proposed to examine, the advantages 

 and disadvantages attending the occupation of land, either 

 by the proprietor himself, or by tenants holding under him. 



1 . Proprietors occupying their own Land. 

 It is certainly in various respects attended with public ad- 

 vantage, that a large proportion of the soil, should be the 

 property of one class of the community, and in the occupa- 

 tion of another. In some of the American States, where, 

 from a scarcity of population, leasehold tenure is hardly 

 known, the land is often so much exhausted by the inatten- 



